These are the victims of the Capital Gazette newsroom shooting

(CNN)Rob Hiaasen walked into the newsroom of the Capital Gazette newspaper convinced that his community had the right to know the news. He had a unique way of telling stories and enjoyed mentoring young reporters.

His brother, best-selling author and Miami Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen, confirmed Rob’s death in a Facebook post and later told CNN that his sibling was a generous, gentle man and “such a gifted writer and editor” who believed deeply in keeping the public informed.

The longtime editor and columnist was among five people killed Thursday when a gunman opened fire through the glass door of the newsroom at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, said William Krampf, acting chief of Anne Arundel County police. Together, the victims had more than 75 years of experience at the paper.

Here’s what we know so far about the people who died:

Rob Hiaasen

Hiaasen, 59, had been an assistant editor and a Sunday columnist at the Capital Gazette since 2010.

A native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, he had been a staff reporter for The Palm Beach Post in Florida and more recently had spent 15 years reporting for The Baltimore Sun, according to his staff biography.

His brother Carl Hiaasen told CNN on Friday that Rob”was so proud of those reporters (and) the other editors” at the Capital Gazette.

“What he would want me to say was everything (they did) was for the readers,” Carl Hiaasen said.

He wrote in a Facebook post that his brother was affectionately known as “Big Rob” because he towered over people, “but it was his remarkable heart and humor that made him larger than all of us.”

“He spent his whole gifted career as a journalist, and he believed profoundly in the craft and mission of serving the public’s right to know the news,” he added.

Tom Marquardt, the former publisher and editor of the Capital Gazette, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that Hiaasen was an “incredible mentor” to young reporters and editors.

“I mean, he was a calming voice in that newsroom,” Marquardt said. “Also an inspiring voice. An incredibly gifted writer with a sense of humor … He was just a joy to be around.”

That sentiment was echoed by Teresa Johnson, one of Hiassen’s students at the University of Maryland, where Hiassen taught an advanced news writing course as an adjunct lecturer this past spring.

It was Hiassen’s first class at Maryland, but to his eight students, he “was like our journalism dad,” inspiring them to be better reporters and often checking in on them, Johnson said.

Johnson, a 22-year-old multiplatform journalism and studio art major, recalled Hiaasen passing around a canister of gum to his students in every class, and talking them through how he reported his own pieces.

“You could just tell he was so excited to teach, and he was so intrigued by what the class had to write,” Johnson said.

“When I sat for my endorsement interviews in 2010, he made it clear to me it was to be earned and by no means was guaranteed,” former Anne Arundel County Councilman Jamie Benoit told the newspaper. “He asked tough questions and exposed every weakness in my legislative record. He treated council races like they were presidential races.”

Marquardt called him “a guy who could turn prose like anybody I’ve ever seen,” who “loved his position at the Capital.”

Fischman graduated from the University of Maryland in 1979.

John McNamara

McNamara had worked at the Capital Gazette in various capacities for more than 20 years.

“At a small paper like that, you have to be versatile,” former Capital Gazette sports editor Gerry Jackson told the newspaper. “He could write. He could edit. He could design pages. He was just a jack-of-all-trades and a fantastic person.”

The 56-year-old loved covering sports, and his interest in local history inspired him to write two books about University of Maryland’s football and basketball history.

He was working on another book about baseball players raised in the Washington area, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Before joining the Capital Gazette, McNamara worked at The Herald-Mail in Hagerstown, Maryland, according to his LinkedIn profile.

McNamara graduated from the University of Maryland in 1983. Along with his colleagues Hiaasen and Fischman, he was one of three victims with ties — either through graduation or through lecturing — to the university.

“We’re heartbroken,” Lucy Dalglish, dean of the university’s journalism college, said in a statement Thursday. “This was a senseless attack on journalists who worked hard to serve their community.

“We cannot stop thinking about our friends and colleagues in Annapolis and their families.”

Rebecca Smith

Smith, 34, joined the newspaper last year as a sales assistant.

“She was a very thoughtful person,” Marty Padden, the newspaper’s advertising director, told The Baltimore Sun. “She was kind and considerate, and willing to help when needed. She seemed to really enjoy to be working in the media business.”

In her Facebook profile, Smith described herself as a survivor of endometriosis and a “Dog Mom. Softball Fiance. Bonus Mom to the best kid ever.”

Before the Capital Gazette, Smith worked in marketing for a health care organization, the newspaper reported.

Wendi Winters

Winters was an editor and community reporter for the Capital Gazette, writing several weekly columns.

The 65-year-old moved to Maryland after working for two public relation agencies in New York and “owning her own boutique agency in the Big Apple,” her staff bio said.

Her skills as a journalist came from her experience in “retailing, wholesaling, art design, apparel and accessories design, management, public relations, modeling, styling, casting, event planning, motherhood – instead of 4-years at a j-school,” she wrote in her LinkedIn profile.

Winters had a fashion design degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and organized campaigns and special events for companies such as J.C. Penney, Sears Roebuck & Co. and Gimbels, according to her profile.

She was an active volunteer with the Girl Scouts and Red Cross and had founded an annual event in Annapolis called P.R. Bazaar, where local journalists and public relations professionals meet to learn from each other.

“My mother was a wonderful woman and a fantastic reporter,” her daughter Winters Geimer told The Baltimore Sun as the family gathered Thursday. “Her life was a gift to everyone who knew her and the world will not be the same without her. We are grieving and trying to make sure all of us can be together to celebrate the life of our mother.”

Recommended For You

Long Tail Pro is the fastest, most effective way to find keywords that will help your website rank in search engines.The Long Tail Pro Starter plan includes access to Long Tail Pro's entire suite of keyword research tools, including keyword lookups, re

Recommended Products

The MOST POWERFUL App on Planet That Builds a Fully Functional Affiliate Shoppe in 60 Seconds Flat That Gets You Products from Top E-com Giants, Unique Content, Video Reviews, TRAFFIC and COMMISSIONS, All Hands FREE…

==========

Recommended Products

TrafficZionTrafficZion is a simple-to-setup software that virtually ANYONE can use to start getting consistent FREE traffic on complete autopilot from a reputable free platform for any niche possible.The traffic comes from a legit and overlooked traffic source.

TigerPress Volume 9Premium one of a kind wordpress themes that do all the onpage seo for you including image seo, with TigerPress themes you can also generate an unlimited amount of geo targeted landing pages in any language.

VidViral MonthlyVidViral is a cloud based suite that turns any Video(YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, or self upload) into a Attention Grabbing Masterpiece by adding a additional layer of header and footer to the video which directly talks with the viewer.

WP Dev Suite ULTIMATE UPGRADESStart selling your own software in less than 4 minutes from now…WP Dev Suite allows you to easily tap into the MASSIVE WordPress Market, with YOUR OWN hot-selling plugins - instantly, no experience needed.

Viral Reach Pro MonthlyViral Reach Pro is the only Professional Content SAAS app that post and work with a variety of content. Especially content that keeps people on Facebook - Videos, Images and GIFs.
The Pro upgrade super-charges everything. It can Support up to 60 Campaign

Store Buildr - 25 Niche Website Package #2The Ultimate ‘Done For You’ Niche Website Store Package!
How Would You Like to Boost Your Website Income Massively With 25 Done-For-You Niche Targeted Websites... All Professionally Designed And Ready For You to Profit From!

VideoMate100% automated video marketing.Get automated content
Get automated traffic
Get automated list building
Get automated social followers
Get automated PROFITSAll using the power of VIDEO

Email Force - New Sequence PlanEmail Force is built on the same ROBUST platform as the Converzly Copy Engine. It’s super simple to use because it uses the same automation technology.
It’ll quickly and effortlessly create you profitable emails for ANY product you’re promoting, in any ni

SociDeck ProSociDeck is a feature-packed social media management software that converts social conversations into conversions by allowing users to manage their 3 biggest social media accounts- Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at one place.

Covert Video Press V3WordPress theme that makes your blog feel and work like Youtube, allowing your to cash in on the video craze without ever having to create a video yourself!

==========

Recommended Products

LaunchShark Volume 1 Second ChanceBuild 6 Figure Sales Funnels... Even If Optimizepress Makes You Curse Out Loud...
I design for 6 figure product launchers... now I want to give YOU the same pages I built for them!

Email Force - YearlyEmail Force is built on the same ROBUST platform as the Converzly Copy Engine. It’s super simple to use because it uses the same automation technology.
It’ll quickly and effortlessly create you profitable emails for ANY product you’re promoting, in any ni

LiteApp Studio - Reseller [200 Licenses]Get rights to 200 Liteapp Studio Licenses to resell to your customers and keep 100% of the money! At only $147, each license costs you only $0.73 = LESS THAN $1 PER LICENSE!

TigerPress Volume 8Premium one of a kind wordpress themes that do all the onpage seo for you including image seo, with TigerPress themes you can also generate an unlimited amount of geo targeted landing pages in any language.

Local Vid Pro FEWant A KILLER Offer To Promote This NOVEMBER? INSANE Software That Creates Videos, Ranks Them For MULTIPLE Keywords At Once, Finds Clients and SELLS TO THEM ON AUTOPILOT. (+PROOF!)Combine This MAGNETIC And SUPER Converting Sales Copy And Funnel, Sprinkle

Trending Traffic - YearlyHarness the power of trending viral content and skyrocket your visitors and social engagement. This system scans the most popular sites to constantly find the best content to share to SUCK in that traffic on autopilot.

ShopMozo - Premium MembershipDEAD SIMPLE 1-click cloud based Affiliate Store builder that uses the Power of Videos, SEO and Social Media to Automatically Add Affiliate Products from top E-Commerce giants

LaunchShark Volume 2 Downsell5 Quick Start Marketing Page Templates and training so you can deploy your first high converting squeeze page (perfect for building your first list if you don’t have one yet)...

TigerPress Previous Volumes Second Chance 3Premium one of a kind wordpress themes that do all the onpage seo for you including image seo, with TigerPress themes you can also generate an unlimited amount of geo targeted landing pages in any language.

TigerPress Previous Volumes Second Chance 9Premium one of a kind wordpress themes that do all the onpage seo for you including image seo, with TigerPress themes you can also generate an unlimited amount of geo targeted landing pages in any language.